Every customer has a unique story to tell about Fixably, and Rauno Peets is uniquely qualified to talk about an evolving product that’s served him over the years.

Valge Klaar, part of Ideal Group, is an Apple Authorized Service Provider based in the Baltics. Together, Ideal and Valge Klaar, are the main service providers in Estonia and Latvia.

And they’re one of Fixably’s earliest customers.

Rauno is the group CTO, and is in charge of their Fixably project. “I manage the country managers for the service department for Estonia and Latvia, and they in turn manage technicians. But I like to be quite hands-on.”

What does this mean in practice?

“I use the different reports and administrative tools within Fixably — so that I can check the metrics, check how the technicians are doing, the numbers in each of the locations. 

“And, if needed, I can adjust the specific settings for the locations, whether it is an automated email response or something else.

“The location administrators do that as well. But I do like to have a general overview of how every individual location is doing.”

Rauno is hands-on because he understands the value of an efficient workflow. And that such improvements are only possible with access to the right reports.

He can get an understanding of how the business is doing on any given day, week, or month. “I use the volume (of service orders), whether it is per location or per technician. How many repairs does a technician complete, whether it is Macs or iPhones, how it compares against the company average.”

“Of course not all of the reports are instantly available, but once the inputs are gathered, the report is certainly available for me. I definitely need this data because it is a large part of my job.”

The Evolution of the Product

Rauno was already working with a GSX API-integrated system before switching to Fixably, even though it was quite unreliable. He was already aware of what the company would miss without a GSX integration.

“Important metrics, like technician efficiency and the volume that’s handled at our locations, weren’t available in one system.

“Data — like how many repairs a technician does, how quickly they do repairs, the type of repairs they’re doing — were spread across multiple systems.

“The reports I have in Fixably today combine these into one report so that I can compare the data much faster.

“This simply did not exist (before Fixably). I had to go through all of this (separately). And I didn't even have access to some of it because the systems were much less advanced.”

It’s not a static state of play either. The more data that Fixably tracks, the more granular the reports that Rauno could use.

“Sometimes I think about my job and what I could do better and the different metrics and numbers to track. I then come up with possible reports and write to Fixably support. They mostly can find these reports, and that's really nice.”

What Stands Out When Using the System?

Reliability is an important theme for AASPs, and it holds true for iDeal as well. It stems from personal experience as well. A broken API connection impacted their entire workflow at one point.

“(Losing access) changed our work quite dramatically because we were already used to using the API. We had to create GSX repairs manually each time.

“The actual repair creation went from a couple of minutes to ten-plus minutes. The GSX system has questions that you need to answer and tasks you need to complete. All of this required a significant amount of time.

“We instantly started searching for a new system.”

What changed once they found Fixably?

“The word that comes to mind first would be reliability.” says Rauno.

“Even if we have had issues, it would always be addressed immediately. There can be technical glitches, but I can be assured that the system will be fixed when I wake up the next day. If not, there are likely external issues at play.”

The Evolution of the Product

When Rauno started working with Fixably, it was still early days. Even then, the Apple GSX integration and automations were the focus.

“The expectation was to get the automated process running again because Apple's portal was — and it still is — pretty bad.

“(But) we didn’t have much of the functionality that we have today in Fixably. Like the Macros (predefined workflows), the automations, and the reports.

“We were using Fixably for the GSX API and the messaging functionality, which was a good feature that we didn’t have previously.

“We could send the message from the system directly to the customer and when they replied, it would be added to our system directly.”

The software also remains a pretty intuitive interface for those in the repair industry. For instance, onboarding new technicians is quite easy.

“The system itself is — if you don't need to go into system settings or admin panels — pretty self-explanatory,” says Rauno.

“We create the account for them and most of the teaching is done by the service location managers. Even if you make a mistake creating Apple repairs through the API, very often the system explains what kind of error you’re making.

"Even though we’re not using specialist training or resources, starting and getting used to the system is quite easy.”

Designed for All Roles Within a Service Organization

Fixably was built from the ground up inside an after-sales business. This understanding resulted in a solution that was built for a variety of roles within a repair business. An enterprise provider like iDeal sees the importance of this every day.

“Most people would avoid using a technical system if they can. Right now, I’ve noticed that our store staff don’t want to spend a lot of time booking the repair.

“This is where Macros (predefined workflows) come in, so that the flow of the repair booking can be made as easy as possible.

For instance, profiles of current customers would already exist in the system. The system will also ask specific questions from the staff, which they in turn ask the customer — whether FMI is turned off, whether a backup was done, things like that.

"So they don't need to remember what they need to do.”

The value is not limited to reducing manual work, but also in growing a service business. Rauno explains how Fixably’s service contract feature helps serve their business customers.

“The business to business department, which reviews how many repairs a company brings, can recommend service contracts based on information in Fixably.

“And the business customer can be informed about the kind of device that is being repaired and whether it is worth it to do the repair.

“Or they can recommend a whole new unit instead of doing major fixes. So yes, we collect information that everybody can use. And it definitely helps with communication.”

Building a Business That’s All About Great Service

Rauno feels strongly about customer satisfaction.

“When I ask people what they think is the most important part of being a service provider, they say it is to repair the device effectively.

“But that’s missing the point. When a customer comes to a service provider with a defective or broken device, the expectation of getting it repaired is a basic one.

“Customer service, including necessary things like timely communication, is what we need to provide. The customer needs to know what’s going on with their device, that their device is being looked at, that the problem was diagnosed, that the part was ordered.

“People don’t want to sit at home waiting to get a message to pick up their phone or computer. They don’t want to be in the dark and want to know what is going on.

“I would say that the most significant part of the service provider’s job is actually communicating with the customer.”

This is why Rauno relies on Fixably’s ability to automate communication and set up templates.

“I’m not sure about all the technicians across the world, but normally they don’t want to phone the customer and speak for long.

“They would like to keep the communication as brief as possible. This is something that Fixably enables us to do — we don’t need to send emails, we don’t need to call them, because we can send a message through the system.

“Some can be automated using snippets because the messages are quite similar, like when you let the customer know that the parts have arrived and the repairs have begun.

“You don’t even need to type it out. Unless there is a specific question that the customer asks us, a lot of the information can be exchanged quickly.

“Fixably helps us reduce the time we need for communication without impacting the quality.”

Automations That Make a Difference

So what’s the bottom line? How does having an integrated workflow help?

“We would be at the mercy of Apple’s GSX processes without it. For me, it would mean that I would need to have about 50% more technicians to do the same amount of work.

“This doesn't even take into account all the errors we avoid. Using Fixably, we have managed to build a service process that enables technicians to focus on repairing devices.”

It’s not only about the numbers for Rauno. “I like looking at this data because it shows how we’re doing, and I usually see that my teams are doing well and this brings me a bit of happiness.”